Lok Sabha passed 124th constitutional amendment bill

The Lok Sabha has passed the 124th Constitutional Amendment Bill to provide reservations to the 'Economically Weaker Sections' of society.

The Central Government is planning to introduce a ten per cent reservation for those belonging to economically weaker sections of society.

Features of the 124th Constitutional Amendment Bill:

The Bill states that people from the economically weaker sections of the society have largely remained excluded from attending the higher educational institutions and public employment on account of their financial incapacity to compete with the persons who are economically more privileged.

The Bill is brought in to fulfil the commitments under the Directive principles of the state policy listed in the Article 46 of the Constitution which urges the government to protect the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of society.

The Bill amends Article 15 of the Constitution to provide reservations to economically weaker sections for admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions.

The Bill also amends Article 16 of the Constitution to provide reservations to people from economically weaker sections in government posts.

The Bill caps the reservation to economically weaker sections at 10%.

The Bill states that the criterion for the economically weaker sections would be notified by the State from time to time on the basis of family income and other indicators of economic disadvantage.